How to take a walk…

“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

This lovely quote was given to me by a very dear friend and colleague – one of my favorite people on the planet. She is a dedicated and expert teacher, a generous, selfless and faith-filled woman, an adventurer and missionary who, in spite of great challenges, wears a perpetual smile.  This beautiful young woman is “energized” by joy and love for her students. I admire her expertise in hiking and backpacking and she mentioned to me recently that it was a good idea to learn about properly distributing the weight in my backpack to save my back. I have so much to learn! More research ensues…

One of the first and most inspiring books I read in preparation for the Camino was Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus, by Father Dave Pivonka, T.O.R. Every year when I teach about the pilgrimage, I teach from this book. Father Dave, while making the journey, includes spiritual inspirations and lessons that I have passed on to my students.

One of my favorite chapters from the book talks about the weight of the crosses that we all carry, with the analogy of the backpack that he carried on the Camino. He talks about walking with “Pablo,” who manages to carry a tiny backpack, whereas Father is suffering with the weight of his larger pack. Father eventually discovers that Pablo’s pack, although small, is extremely heavy. The lesson is that we all carry crosses and burdens, some visible, others not. But we never know the weight of the crosses that others are carrying. We all have the tendency to think that our neighbor “has it easy” and can’t possibly be suffering as we are.

To Father’s lesson, I always remind my students that they should never add to the weight of another’s burden by cruel words or actions. Our desire should be always to lighten the burdens of others and not add to them. Likewise, I add that by going to the Sacrament of Confession we can “lighten our load” of sin weighing on our conscience. What a blessed relief!

At the same time, we ourselves can make the conscious decision to remove burdens from our “pack,” leaving them along the way – things like grudges, unhealthy or destructive habits or preoccupations, or by entertaining lingering guilt. This is our choice to make, and with God’s abundant grace, we can better sustain the challenges on our journey, and be a better, more compassionate pilgrim to others, energized by love and joy.